StarDestroyer.Net BBS

Heh, I should have made a vague partial sentence for the title since I just read Wong's post. LoL!!!


This just came to mind from Wong's response to the ADD/ADHD thread in SLAM. It basically goes as this. We have all heard the stories that TV/Video Games cause you to have a lack of concentration and lowers your attention span. However I find this to be utterly ignorant to say the least. I find myself able to bleed through the largest commotions and still know everything I'm supposed to be doing. It's how I get through work.

One day though, my girlfriends dad, the hyprocrite he is, popped off something about TV cuts down on your concentration. He's like this wierd bloke, don't really get him. It struck me odd though because a few weeks earlier we were playing checkers and he kept going on how I had great concentration and blah blah blah. I ended up letting him win (sure, everyone says it) due to the fact he had to leave for work, figured I'd go for a loss for good measure. I play WAAAAY more games than even most people on this board alone, much less my girlfriend. She's played like two Mario games and some Sonic games. Funny, since according to him and everyone else I should be the stupidest most ADD afflicted individual.

I'll agree to that. I play video games and watch movies, and on the opposite end I play chess. Most of my peers in the game can't sit down and simply learn the position move by move. Tv/video games don't do thats; it's a general laziness. And concerning checkers; tell him checkers is easy I'm practically a Grandmaster in checkers. There are so few variations; it takes the fun out of it and I don't play.

i dunno . . .certain games do tend to help with your hand eye coordination. such as fighting games, or games that require you to keep your eye on rapidly moving objects. at least that's been my experience with 'em at any rate. as far as lower attention span. . . .well, the internet has done more with that than videogames could ever hope to do.

I think the tv/video game thing messing with people's concentration has more to do with people getting bored easilly. With tv and video games there's a certain amount of immediate entertainment style gratification. If either is boring switch to something else.

So really it isn't a lack of attention span it's a lack of practice at staying with something even if it's not fun or is boring. Certainly some video games take lots of concentration if you want to do well.

Now, I have heard a few instructors claim that American students appear to go into "commercial" mode every 20 minutes (ie paying a little less attention) but I've never seen anything official on that. USN schools used to give us a 10 minute break every 50 minutes and the classes at my high school were 50 minutes long so I'm pretty sure someone did some sort of study about optimum attention span and learning, not that my university followed that format though.

This is pure bull! If anything TV/Video Games improve one's concentration capabilities since most require that you DO concentrate on the game to actually win it.
What is generaly meant here is the most wants to spend more time on TV/Video games or other 'leasure' activites that actual work/studies. I usued to play games while the whole household was yellling, shouting or othewise raising hell without missing a beat. Its my wanting to play the game that keeps in focused to it and keeps my concentration in the game.
What would be greate is that is all those 'lazy to study/work but can concentrate on a game when all hell breakes loose' bums can have the same wanting to study/work. If so the concentration will automatically kick in.